


A Siren's Call

by astudyinfic



Series: Answering the Call [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: First Meetings, M/M, Merman verse, Valentine's Day, Warlock Magnus Bane, love spells, merman alec lightwood, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13650996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: A hundred years have passed since Magnus' last relationship and his claim to have closed himself off to love. Raphael and Ragnor are happily together, Cat and Dot are happily together, and he is the fifth wheel in their little group. Instead of dealing with another Valentine's Day alone, Magnus runs away to a deserted island, because Magnus has always enjoyed being dramatic.  Spending his nights drinking and feeling sorry for himself, Magnus' emotions get the better of him and he casts a love spell to bring him and his soul mate together.But when he finds his soul mate, it doesn't seem like it will ever work.  Because with one on land and one in the water, how could love possibly win?





	A Siren's Call

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the lovely [musicalbookfandomlover](http://musicalbookfandomlover.tumblr.com/)

One hundred years.  One hundred Valentine’s Days.

After Camille ripped out his heart and stomped it into the dirt, Magnus swore off love forever.  No matter how much he once enjoyed having someone to share his life, it wasn’t worth the pain when that love came to an end.

The first couple decades, he thought nothing of his oath, feeling free from the shackles of trying to find his soul’s other half.  He could live his life as he saw fit without having someone holding him back.

The problem with living forever, however, is that after a few decades, anything could start to lose its appeal, even a life free of heartache and pain.  When Raphael came into his life and promptly became involved with his best friend, Magnus felt a pang of jealousy.  Not that he wasn’t happy for both Raphael and Ragnor.  Their relationship was unconventional, but they made each other happy, and that was all Magnus ever wanted for his friends.  It was hard when that was all he’d ever wanted, despite what he told himself in those dark and lonely hours.

Magnus sometimes wondered if they got together purely to spite him. They both knew his feelings on relationships and they were the only two people in the world whose sarcasm could rival his own; the two of them together could only mean bad things for his future.

They truly made each other happy, so Magnus kept his comments to a minimum.  He was thankful for the lack of physical affection in their relationship because he didn’t know if he could handle Ragnor Fell having a more active sex life than his own.  It would be one hit too many.

Still, Magnus told himself it wasn’t worth it.  Not everyone found what Ragnor and Raphael had.  Theirs was truly a special relationship, an exception instead of the rule.  A lasting relationship between two immortals almost never happened, interests changing and evolving as the decades and centuries rolled by.  But Ragnor and Raphael were two of the staidest creatures Magnus had ever met and if anyone could make a relationship work forever, it was the two of them.  

Most relationships ended with pain and suffering when one left the other, by choice or by death.  As one who was as eternal as it was possible to be, it meant a lot of loss for Magnus.  Considering how poorly he took losing people he loved, it was best to avoid it all together.

It became harder to ignore when Cat and Dot started dating.  His best friend and his ex-girlfriend-turned-friend, together.  Their family of five then consisted of two couples and one sad, lonely warlock.  Not that he would admit that.  No.  He extolled the joys of the single life, telling them how great it was not to be tethered to anyone, even while he was breaking inside.  No one believed him, but no one called him on it either, believing it less cruel to play along with his charade.

After one hundred years on his own, seventy years of Raphael and Ragnor being happy together, and fifty years of Cat and Dot’s domestic bliss, Magnus had enough.  Particularly on Valentine’s Day.  For New Years, he could find a warm, willing body and fool himself for a few hours, but Valentine’s Day was a holiday for established couples.  Cat and Dot invited him along, saying it would be good for him to get out of New York for awhile.  And while getting away didn’t sound bad, tagging along as a third wheel or babysitter for their new lovely daughter Madzie wasn’t something that interested him.

Instead, he made his own arrangements, deciding to go home for awhile.  Not to Brooklyn but to a tropical paradise on a deserted island; it sounded about perfect.  A place no one could bother him.  He could sulk all he wanted without well-meaning friends trying to help.  

Two days before Valentine’s Day, Magnus bid his friends goodbye and promised not to do anything too stupid.  (They all knew better than to make him promise to behave.)  Taking one last deep breath of the New York air, Magnus stepped through the portal and into what might as well have been a different world.  Gone were the buildings and the cars, the hustle and the bustle of city life.  Instead, there was nothing but lush trees and the crashing waves on the beach.  

Down the path in front of him, Magnus knew he would find a cabana overlooking the ocean.  Other than that, the place was untouched by human hands, which made it perfect.  A small part of his mind told him this wasn’t what normal people did; taking themselves to a deserted island to avoid a simple holiday.

But most people weren’t Magnus and he was never interested in doing what was considered normal.  So a private island it was and Magnus knew he would be thankful for the isolation, particularly since he planned to drink until he could no longer remember his sorrows.  Not the healthiest way to cope, but it was what he had.

The first night, Magnus did exactly as he planned, drinking until he fell asleep on the beach.  He was woken by the tide coming in and the sun rising over the horizon.  Then he’d stumbled to the cabana and promptly slept for several more hours, waking refreshed, his hangover almost gone.

Feeling better after his rest, Magnus returned to the beach and summoned one of his spell books to his hand.  It was an idea he’d had while drunk, which he knew typically wasn’t a good sign, but he thought he could pull it off.  He was the most powerful warlock in the world and there wasn’t a spell that existed he hadn’t managed yet.  Even if this type of magic was typically forbidden, no one else needed to know.  He didn’t want to make anyone fall in love with him, which was the typical argument against love spells.  Magnus only wanted to find the person who could be considered his soulmate.  

The hot sun, warm water, and interesting spell kept Magnus occupied for the entire day.  By the time the sun was setting, he had read everything about the ritual and was ready to perform it at midnight.  Magnus didn’t know how quickly the spell would work, but a small part of him hoped he would meet his soulmate right then.  Or at least know where to find them.  Meeting your soulmate on Valentine’s Day.  What could be more romantic?  But he suspected it would simply put them both on the path to find one another sooner rather than later, if it even worked at all.  The spell didn’t exactly specify.

When the moon rose high overhead and the light danced over the crystalline water, Magnus drew the ritual space in the sand.  He tossed fae lights into the air to illuminate the beach in case his soulmate did appear.  He wanted to be able to see them properly, not in the dim light of the moon.  Beginning the chant, Magnus focused all his heart on finding love.  The spell required a great deal of energy and concentration, and Magnus could feel sweat dripping down his neck that had nothing to do with the humid air.

When the spell was complete, Magnus fell to his knees in the sand as a bolt of lightning crackled across the ebony sky.  He looked up expectantly, but nothing changed.  The fae lights still flickered around the beach, the waves still lapped at the shore, and Magnus was still very alone.  He’d known it wasn’t likely to work, but hope wormed its way into his heart anyway.  

“This is why I gave up on love,” he mumbled miserably.  His eyes grew heavy from the massive use of magic and Magnus fell asleep before he even hit the sand.  Dreams punctuated with rushing water and fast movement left him restless, even as he slept through the night.

Frowning when he woke, Magnus swatted at the pest poking him in the shoulder.  “Go away and leave me to be miserable,” he grumbled, rolling onto his stomach only to end up with a mouth full of sand.  Sand?  He sat up quickly, magic sparking from his fingers as he blinked into the bright morning sun and looked around for the source of his annoyance.  No one else lived on this island.  Magnus made sure of that before he came here.  So, what had been bothering him?

“Why are you miserable?” asked a smooth, deep voice that awakened something in the depths of Magnus’ chest.  “You’re not the one who was pulled away from your family in the middle of the night for no reason.”

Magnus blinked once more and turned in the direction of the voice, his breath catching in his throat when his gaze fell on beautiful hazel eyes, slightly wild brown hair, a chiseled chest and a tail covered in scales that glittered like jewels in the sunlight.  Some of the scales were green, some gold, some brown, echoing the colors in the gorgeous man’s eyes.  “You’re a merman,” he blurted out, seemingly incapable of being eloquent at a moment like this.

“We prefer merfolk,” the man sighed, looking completely unimpressed with everything happening here on this beach.  “I assume you are the one who summoned me.  But since you are surprised to see me here, send me back to my pod and we will forget this ever happened.”  The man’s tail still rested in the water, the waves lapping around it as the fin flipped on occasion, sending droplets of water flying into the air.  

“I summoned you?”  Magnus asked.  He hadn’t summoned a merman.  At least not purposefully.  He’d been looking for his.... Oh.  OH.  “How did you get here?  You weren’t here when I fell asleep last night.”  If the spell worked, Magnus had hoped it would have worked immediately.  Not hours later.  

Sighing, the man leaned back onto the sand and ignored Magnus’ question for the longest time. “The currents,” he said, just as Magnus began to get anxious about not getting an answer.  "Sometime around moon high, they shifted and I was pulled away from my siblings.  No amount of swimming could get me back where I wanted to be, so I decided to follow this through and see where it took me.  I planned to kill you when I found you, but I couldn’t.  I was too confused and curious.  I needed to know why I'm here.  But now, here we are.  So tell me what you want and send me home.”

“I didn’t mean for that to happen.  I thought it would lead me to you.  While I sort of hoped you would appear here in front of me, I didn’t think it would actually happen.”  Considering how angry he’d been so angry the night before when he realized he was still alone, Magnus knew he was lying.  He’d thought it would happen.  He’d wanted it to happen.  And when it didn’t, he was upset.  “You should be able to go home now.  If you can tell me where you came from, I can do my best to send you there but I think now that we met, the currents should be more cooperative.”

Rolling to his side, the merman looked him up and down.  “You summoned me just to meet me?  Because you’ve never seen a merman before?  Or did you want to steal my scales?  I should warn you that people have tried before, but they never survived, and you won’t either.”

Magnus held his hands up in surrender, trying to show he was no threat.  “I don’t want anything from you.  And I wasn’t exactly summoning a merman either, at least not on purpose.  Before I tell you what I was trying to summon, could you tell me your name first?”  If nothing else, he’d like to know the name of his soulmate, even if he never saw him again.

“Alec.  My name is Alec.”  Magnus knew there was more to it than that, that the merman was deliberately hiding part of his name.  For fae, like the merfolk, names held power and they often went by only portions of their name, or titles instead, to avoid giving people leverage over them.  Alec wouldn’t give his name if there was any chance Magnus could use it against him.  Magnus didn’t blame him, even if he wished to hear all of it.

Magnus hoped that by offering his name and title in return he would pacify the merman’s fears, and assure him that he truly wanted nothing from him.  “I am Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn.”  

The merman, Alec, frowned.  Even with such a sour expression, Magnus wondered if he’d ever seen someone more beautiful.  “I’ve been to Brooklyn.  The water is foul and it is hard to breathe.  Why would you ever want to live there?  And why are you here if you are from Brooklyn?  This is very far from your home.  And the water here is perfect.  If you are used to Brooklyn, then this must be awful for you.”

There was a logic behind that, Magnus knew, but there were also flaws.  “I’m from here originally.  I was born a few islands over.  I’ve moved around a lot and Brooklyn is my home now.  It has its issues, but I love it there.  My friends are there, and the people I consider my family.  But I ran away for awhile.  I was upset and needed a break.  Which is why I cast the spell last night.”

Alec sat up and listened carefully, obviously curious what Magnus had been doing to drag him from his home to an island that was probably far away.  “I am lonely,” Magnus admitted, looking out at the water instead of into Alec’s eyes.  “My friends have all found love and yet I continue to be alone.  I came here to avoid a romantic holiday that we have on land, where my friends would be happy with their lovers, while simultaneously trying to prove to me that I don’t need someone else to be happy.  I thought I might be able to cast a spell to bring my soulmate to me, or me to my soulmate.  Which, maybe it worked?  But, if you don’t want to stick around to find out, I understand.  You probably have a partner and I know you are anxious to get back to your family.”

“Soulmate?”  For the first time, Alec’s voice sounded small.  “I didn’t think I had one of those.  My sister found her mate, and my brother found his.  But I could never find another among my kind who was to be mine.  Maybe because they weren’t among my kind.”  There was hope in Alec’s words and Magnus turned to look at him.  “You are certainly beautiful.  I would be proud to call you mine.”

“And I would be proud to call you mine.  But considering you live in the water and I live on land, perhaps we should take things slowly.  I don’t know if it is possible for us to be together, so let us get to know one another and then go from there.”

Alec considered his words carefully and nodded.  “Tell me about yourself.”

And so Magnus did.  He regaled the young-looking man (Magnus didn’t actually know how merfolk aged) with stories of his life.  Of his adventures as a pirate where he ended up in the ocean outside of Peru, with his best friend yelling at him about getting them both wet.  Of running around Paris trying to save a queen who was unable to accept his help without talking back and making things worse every time she opened her mouth.  Of his life in Brooklyn with friends he loved.  Talking about his life and his friends made him so very lonely that he couldn’t take much more of it.

Magnus left out the stories of heartbreak, of all the people he’d loved and lost along the way.  He didn’t think Alec would judge him for it, but he didn’t want to focus on sadness when he had finally found someone who possibly understood.

And Alec did understand.  For every one of Magnus’ stories, Alec had one of his own.  Stories about the day he met his brother, the man who would change his life for the better, but also became a constant source of headaches and stress.  (Magnus laughed long and loud at that, causing Alec to glare at him until he told the merman that he was that friend in his relationships.  Then Alec grinned and continued speaking.)  Alec told stories of his baby brother and the adventures he had trying to keep him from doing something too reckless.  He told stories about his sister, who was obviously his whole world.  Most tellingly, Alec told stories about his brother Jace and sister Isabelle’s mates, two merfolk named Simon and Clary.  He talked about how his brother’s mate was a man from the land, just like Magnus himself.  “He’s even from Brooklyn,” Alec explained.  “But he’s not as pretty as you.  I thought everyone from Brooklyn looked like him. I am glad I was wrong.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Magnus teased, using the tone to cover the way his heart pounded in his chest at the words.  “Because I think you are beautiful as well.”

The answering blush on Alec’s cheeks endeared him even more to Magnus, who reached out to touch his face with gentle fingers.  Alec’s eyes fluttered closed and Magnus wondered if he’d ever seen anyone so beautiful.  It was too bad they could only meet here by the shore.  There was so much Magnus would like to show him of his world and so much of Alec’s world that he would like to see.  Though, he did say his brother’s mate was from Brooklyn.

“How did your brother mate with someone from Brooklyn?  How does that even work?”  If it could work for them, maybe this whole thing they had between them wasn’t as disastrous as he originally thought.  

Alec smiled, “Are you asking how mating takes place between my people or how Jace actually managed to fall in love with someone who lives on land?”  He laughed before launching into a story about his brother, his face lighting up the way it did every time he spoke about his siblings.  “Jace likes to do the opposite of what is expected.  So when he was told to stay away from New York Harbor, of course, he went there immediately.  It’s disgusting.  I don’t know why he would want to go there, but he did, and it worked out, in the end, even if his scales got infected and he smelled terrible for a week.”  Alec’s grin in response to his brother’s misfortune had Magnus laughing.  “But, while he was there, this talkative human fell off a pier trying to impress his friends.  He couldn’t swim, so he would have died if Jace hadn’t saved him.  I don’t know if his friends weren’t paying attention, or weren’t very good friends and would have just left him there, or if my brother is exaggerating, but either way, he saved Simon.

“He said it was love at first sight, but the guy is really annoying, so I’m guessing he complained about being wet for some time before Jace got him on land.  Maybe it was love, but it couldn’t have been at first sight.  At first sight, I wanted to punch him.”

“Darling, at first sight, you wanted to kill me.  Maybe you just have violence issues,” Magnus teased.  The look Alec gave him, completely unimpressed and lacking in humor caused Magnus to double over in laughter, clutching his side.  Eventually, Alec joined in the laughter, his chuckle the most beautiful sound Magnus had ever heard.

Alec shook his head, scooting a little closer, “That was only because I thought you were going to steal my scales.  I couldn’t allow that.  But when you told me why you brought me here, I wasn’t angry anymore.”  And Magnus knew that.  He saw the change in Alec’s demeanor once Magnus explained the intention of the spell.  

“Well, thank you for not killing me. It would have really ruined my Valentine’s Day, which normally ruins itself without any outside help.”  This Valentine's Day was better than Magnus had ever dreamed possible.  Even if nothing happened between them, if the merman disappeared back into the ocean to return to his family, Magnus would be forever grateful to Alec for helping him through the holiday that usually pulled him to his lowest.

The sun started to set before either realized a whole day had passed.  While Magnus wished to stay there and talk to Alec through the night, the previous night of excessive magic use and sleeping on the beach left him hardly able to keep his eyes open.  “Are you going to go back to your family?” he asked, glancing toward the beach house with a combination of longing and loathing.  Bed sounded wonderful, but if he left, maybe he would wake in the morning to find this was all a dream.  

“I am,” Alec nodded, causing Magnus’ heart to sink.  “But I’ll come back in the morning.  I swim fast, it won’t be bad to go back and forth.  I need to tell them where I am.  They are probably worried about me.  If my brother and my sister’s mate haven’t already declared war on half the ocean to try and get me back, I would be surprised.  If I didn’t know better, I would say Jace and Clary are related.  They both share a certain hot-headedness that the rest of us don’t have.”  Magnus would never tire of the way Alec spoke about his family.  Even when he was exasperated with them, there was such fondness in his tone that Magnus couldn’t help but hope someday it would be directed at him as well.  

Starting to push himself to his feet, Magnus paused, “What are you going to tell them about me?”  Magnus wanted to call his own friends immediately, to tell them about the man he met and how everything seemed brighter when Alec was around.  But at the same time, he didn’t want to share.  This was too new and fragile for him to want to risk it by bragging.  Maybe he would call them tomorrow, after he had a night to think about Alec without all their voices clogging his thoughts.  

“I’m going to tell them that the person I think is my soulmate is quite magical and I can’t wait for them to meet you.”  Hearing Alec say those words, knowing he was feeling the same thing Magnus was, caused the warlock to breathe out a sigh of relief.  

Smiling at Alec, Magnus reached out and cupped his face once more.  “Be safe in your travels, darling, and I will see you when you return in the morning.”  He stood on the beach, watching Alec dive into the waves and disappear into the dark water before turning back to his house. After a quickly conjured dinner, Magnus fell asleep with a smile on his face and a dream of glittering scales and warm hazel eyes.

For a man who often slept well into the afternoon when he didn’t have work, Magnus woke with the sun the following day.  He hurried to dress and get down to the beach, not knowing when Alec would return.  No one waited for him on the sand when he arrived, so Magnus summoned a book and laid back to read, trusting the merman would return.  Alec promised him he would, after all.

It was nearing lunchtime when he heard the telltale splash of something coming up out of the water and he set his book down in time to see Alec’s beautifully wet body propped up on his hand.  The merman grinned at him and Magnus’ book vanished from his fingertips now that he had something far more interesting to focus on.

“I rather expected you would be back earlier than this,” Magnus laughed, sitting next to Alec, who hauled himself up onto the sand.  “I’ve been waiting since sunrise, and I am not a morning person.”  The things one does for love, he mused silently.

Alec’s half smile was apologetic and Magnus smiled back at him.  “I meant to be back early, but after talking with my siblings, they convinced me I needed to bring something to you.  It is a tradition for our kind.”   He held out a necklace, a shell laced onto a thin strand.  The shell glinted in the midday sun, reflecting every color of the rainbow like an oil slick on water.  “When we find the one we are destined to be with, we present them with a token of our affection.  If you accept the token, we are considered mates in the eyes of my people and the ocean.”

The necklace was striking, beautiful and simple.  Magnus could easily wear it at all times and never feel like it was out of place with the rest of his clothes.  “What do you mean that we would be mates in the eyes of the ocean?”  He understood the necklace was of cultural significance, but the ocean wasn’t sentient as far as Magnus knew.

“I told you my brother’s mate was from the land.  When he accepted the token, he was able to join my brother in the ocean.”

Magnus’ eyes went wide and he realized what Alec was saying, “He became one of your kind.”  A magic that strong was rare, to change someone from one race to another.  There was a reason it was almost always done through violence, either a vampire’s blood or a werewolf’s bite.  To hear it could be done through love as well intrigued Magnus and he knew he’d be researching it soon.  Or maybe not.  If he accepts that token, takes the beautiful necklace from the man honestly offering him a new life in what might as well be a new world, would he be able to go home?  Who would care for Chairman?  Would Raphael and Ragnor, Cat and Dot and Madzie all miss him?  Would they come to places like this for their holidays so they could spend time with their friend who was willing to throw away life on land to spend it with the man he was destined to be with?

Magnus knew the answer would be yes.  His friends would miss him, but they would come visit when and where they could.  And Magnus would miss them, but he wouldn’t miss the responsibility, the loneliness.  “If I say yes now, will I still be able to go call my friends and let them know?  I don’t want to disappear without telling them.  Also, will I still have my magic?”  The idea of losing his magic gave him pause.  Hundreds of years with it, could he suddenly go without?

“Your magic will still be there.  You’re not going to change completely.  You will still be you, Magnus.  Just, underwater.  And you can still call your friends and whatever else you need to do.  You won’t get a tail until you get in the water.”  

Tail.

Yet another thing Magnus didn’t consider.  

He didn’t know how long he’d been thinking about it, or if he’d zoned out completely, but Alec cleared his throat, bringing Magnus back to the present.  The merman looked concerned, and Magnus smiled apologetically.  “Sorry, was trying to guess what color my scales will be.”

Alec’s smile was brighter than the Indonesian sun that shined down upon them.  “Beautiful, just like you.  So you’ll accept it?”  

“I will,” Magnus nodded.  “But before I do, can I ask something first?”

“Anything,” Alec offered immediately, continuing to smile like he was the luckiest man in the world when Magnus knew the luckiest man was, in fact, himself.  

Magnus leaned closer and smiled, “Kiss me?”

Apparently, that was a simple request to fill because Alec launched himself into Magnus’ arms and kissed him enthusiastically.  It was strange, kissing someone who had a tail instead of legs, but his arms were wrapped tight around Magnus’ shoulders and their lips moulded together like they were meant to be.  

When Alec pulled back, Magnus chased his lips and the two of them grinned at one another.  “I accept your necklace, Alexander.”

Alec’s adorable, confused puppy dog expression had Magnus laughing, “How did you know my name was Alexander?”

“What else is Alec going to be short for?”

The two of them kissed for some time before Magnus finally had the strength to pull away.  “Can you come back tomorrow and give it to me officially?  I want to go call my friends and make sure someone takes care of my cat.  By morning, I’ll be ready to join you.”  

Alec nodded, unable to stop smiling, “I’ll go home and tell them you have accepted and to expect someone new in the pod.  Simon will be excited.  He hates being the only one who lived on land.”  Despite how much Alec complained about him, he certainly seemed fond of the young merman in their group and Magnus looked forward to meeting them all.  “I’ll see you in the morning, Magnus.  And actually in the morning.  I won’t be late tomorrow.”

“I’ll wait for you if you are,” he promised and waved goodbye as the merman - his soulmate, Alexander - disappeared back under the waves.

The conversation with Cat and Dot hurt his heart as they said their goodbyes.  He knew they would see each other again.  Surely they could all meet up on an island someplace and spend time together, but it wouldn’t be the same thing.  They promised to look after Chairman, certain Madzie would love to have him as a pet.  “Find a good replacement for me,” he laughed through his tears.  “Not everyone can be the High Warlock of Brooklyn so make sure whoever you choose is worthy.”

Ragnor and Raphael were more disbelieving.  “You are giving up your life for someone you just met?  Dios, are you really that desperate?” Raphael asked, which hurt more than Magnus wanted to admit.  Magnus loved Raphael like his own son but sometimes he forgot how cold he could be.  “You don’t have to do this, Magnus,” the vampire continued, voice more concerned than before.  

“If you had to go somewhere in order to be with Ragnor, wouldn’t you do it?”  There was no difference.  Magnus could see his friends were soulmates, just as Cat and Dot were.  And the spell Magnus cast, it worked exactly as it said, bringing him and his soulmate together.  Just because the man he was meant to be with lived under the water, didn’t change the way Magnus felt about him.  They could do something to be together, and Magnus wouldn’t pass up that opportunity.  “You’ll see me again.  You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“We’d better,” Raphael grumbled but Magnus knew him and knew this wasn’t really angry, just saddened.  

If Magnus was being honest, he was sad too.  He’d miss the life he had, but how could he not take this chance to be with the man of his dreams, the man who he was meant to be with?  He couldn’t ask Alec to leave the water, so Magnus would go to him.  “I’ll talk to you all later.  I’ll send a fire message whenever I am able.”

Knowing he should sleep, Magnus lay in bed until the moon rose high above him, but rest wouldn’t come.  He wanted to be with Alec.  Now that he’d made his decision, waiting just seemed cruel.  Alec would return at sunrise, or morning, they hadn’t specified entirely, and then they could go about their new lives together.  

Knowing he had no reason to wait, Magnus threw the blankets off himself and ran down to the beach, surprised to see Alec was already there.  “I thought you would be with your family,” Magnus explained, coming to sit next to him on the sand.

“I was on my way, but I got halfway there and turned around.  You are going to be my mate.  I couldn’t leave you here alone.  I...I needed to know you were safe.  We can go see my family, together.”  Magnus smiled, though there was a hesitance to it that he was unable to hide.  “You do want this, don’t you?”

His heart hurt.  His intention had never been to make Alec doubt his feelings for the merman.  “I do.  You have no idea how much I do,” Magnus promised, taking one of Alec’s hands into his own.  “It’s just a lot.  I’m giving up my entire life to be with you.  And I will never regret choosing you, I keep thinking about all the things I still wanted to do, thinking I had the rest of eternity on land to do them.”

“Why do you have to give them up?” Alec asked honestly.  “You can still do all the things you want.  I’ll come with you.  I don’t want you to stop being you.”

“Alexander, darling, I appreciate that.  But there are some things I will have to give up.  I’ll never be able to be the first male Rockette if I no longer have any legs.”  Climbing mountains and going to remote places, those things wouldn’t be an option anymore.

Alec’s face clouded for a moment, but Magnus could see when he finally realized what Magnus was talking about.  “You aren’t giving up your legs, Magnus.  You’re just gaining the tail.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.  You don’t have legs.”  That seemed obvious to Magnus but maybe he really was missing something.  

Chuckling, Alec pushed himself up onto the beach, until his whole body was out of the water.  “Just wait,” he grinned.  As his tail dried, the scales turned to water dripping off what happened to be the most perfect pair of legs Magnus had ever seen.  “I guess we never got far from the water when we were talking.  I thought you knew.  My brother goes to some dinner with his mate’s family every December.  Something about candles and food fried in oil.  Simon talks too much and I don’t pay attention.”

Magnus blinked, trying to take in this new information while getting completely distracted by Alec’s legs (and what was between them).  “So, we can still go to Brooklyn?” he asked, feeling a little ridiculous when Alec just made it very clear that they could.  

“Of course.  I wouldn’t ask you to give up your family for me.”  Realization crossed Alec’s face and he dove in, kissing Magnus with more passion than he could remember ever being at the receiving end of.  “You were going to give up everything to be with me?” Alec asked when they finally broke apart, tangled together and covered with sand.  “You were going to walk away from everything you knew just to be with me?”

“I think we have made it clear that yes, that is exactly what I was going to do,” Magnus grinned, relieved that he could still see his family and could introduce them to Alec.  

Shaking his head, Alec sighed and gave him a soft kiss, “You impossible man.  You were going to give up everything for someone you just met.”

When he put it like that, Magnus could understand why Raphael acted as if he were mad.  But, Magnus knew it would be worth it.  Because his magic never steered him wrong.  Sometimes he did bad things with his magic but his magic always did what he wanted it to.  So, if the spell he cast to bring him to his soulmate brought Alexander, then there was no doubt in Magnus’ mind that they were meant to be.  And the more time they spent together only made him more certain.  “Alec, I have lived for hundreds of years.  I have never been given reason to doubt my magic and I don’t intend to start now.  We are meant to be.  Everything after that is just the details.  Please, believe me when I say I would give everything up if it meant a chance to be with you.  Because you have to know that I think it would be worth it.”

“But you don’t have to, Magnus,” Alec smiled.  “We can live half our time on land and half our time in the water.  We will be together and we will be happy.  And my siblings are going to love you.  Especially my sister.”

“I can’t wait to meet them.  Shall we?”  Magnus nodded towards the water and stripped out of his clothes.  “How do we do this?”

Alec stood and kissed Magnus softly before he pulled back and slipped the necklace over his neck.  “Do you accept this token of my love?”

Magnus looked down at the shell, so simple and so beautiful and nodded.  “Yes, Alexander, I accept it.”  

Alec beamed at him and Magnus smiled right back.  Taking his hand Alec led him to the water.  “Then let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this will be continued at some point.  
> No, it will not be anytime soon.


End file.
